Books

I was having dinner at the Moscow apartment of Tatiana Kudryavtseva, the Russian translator for books by Graham Greene, Joyce Carol Oates, Norman Mailer, John Updike and William Styron, among others. But it wasn't a literary evening. The other guest was Rufina Philby, widow of the British spy. Tatiana knew her through Greene, who had written a preface to Philby's memoir. Rufina, or Rutchka, as Tatiana called her, is a striking woman in her 60s, her short, brown hair glistening from a reddish tint.

A few years ago, Jeff Tangel read a story about an elderly man in Wisconsin who built a model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a teacher who had loved books. The man placed the model on a wooden pedestal - which made it resemble an oversize birdhouse - and filled it with books. On the front was a sign that read: "Little Free Library. " The idea was that people would stop by, open a plexiglass door and do as another sign suggested, "Take a Book-Return a Book. " When...

This is a story about a blue crab killed for no good reason. It is a story about birth and rebirth, law and life, nature and nurture, cooperation and connection, cultivation and civilization, production and destruction, seed and greed, Adam and Eve. It is a story about "Ishmael. " "Ishmael," a 1992 Daniel Quinn novel, sounded an alarm on civilization's war on Earth, embarked on 10,000 years ago at the beginning of the agricultural revolution. It illuminated...

Patti Smith was writing long before she became known as a rock performer, so the accolades she has been receiving for her written work have a complete-the-circle sort of feel. She won the 2010 National Book Award for nonfiction for "Just Kids," her vivid memoir chronicling her close relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1970s New York, and in November she'll be returning to the city of her birth as the recipient of the 2014 Chicago Tribune Literary Award. "I was...

Chicago-area authors continue to tell us about their favorite characters from childhood books as a preview to this year's Children's Read & Write Program , which invites children to submit book reviews for possible publication. Here's what they said. This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday Chicago Tribune and by digital edition via email. Click here to learn about joining Printers Row. ...

A stop into Ravenswood Used Books in Lincoln Square is like finding yourself in the midst of a Borges labyrinth and a Lewis Carroll rabbit hole. Narrow aisles end abruptly in nooks and alcoves, and a profusion of used books stretches from the floor to the tin ceiling. Books overflow precariously from the tops and sides of shelves, which can be stocked two rows deep. The towering hodgepodge requires owner Jim Mall to use a ladder. "The store is only 600 (square) feet," Mall said in a phone interview.

LONDON (Reuters) - British children's books still don't reflect the cultural diversity of the country's children and would-be authors, Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman said. Her own best-known books, the Noughts and Crosses trilogy, tackle racism, teenage sex and terrorism - challenging stereotypes by showing white-skinned characters subjected to prejudices and restrictions. She was criticized in the media for a sympathetic portrayal of a suicide...

We began in January 1997. Our group started after the Mount Prospect Public Library recruited two men to organize a book club that would be directed toward men. But the books selected appealed just as much to women, so our group became coed. We meet for one hour every month at the library. We usually have 15-20 people at each meeting. Our December meeting is devoted to planning and selecting the books we want to read for the next year. "Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton was a big...

Our club: We are the Austin-Irving Book Club. Our meetings: We meet on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor community room of the Austin-Irving branch of the Chicago Public Library. The participants reside primarily in the Portage Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side. One unique thing about us: Quite a few of our members have been with us since the library opened in its new building in 2001. Some members were even participants when we were at our old...

Skidding on the opening of the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest, I found the content of Julia Keller's column not only fascinating but reassuring ("As Lit Fest nears, a query: Whither books?" June 6). Basically, the question was, 'will books continue to be relevant, or be squashed by technology?' I know what my answer would be, since I'm a "bookie" at heart, but maybe a better question would be, if our predecessors hadn't written on their version of a book (a cave wall), we would be clueless to their...

LONDON (Reuters) - British children's author Allan Ahlberg has rejected a lifetime achievement award after finding out it was sponsored by Internet bookseller Amazon, which he said does not pay its fair share of tax in Britain. Ahlberg, best-known for his book "The Jolly Postman", has written dozens of popular children's books, including many illustrated by his late wife Janet. He had been due to receive the inaugural Booktrust Lifetime Achievement Award,...

Gals and Books GAB (Gals and Books) has been meeting for more than 10 years and started at the Plano Bible Church in Plano. Members are from the congregation, and friends and family. We generally read Christian fiction, although once or twice we have deviated from that genre. We meet monthly in each other's homes or at local restaurants. The group has about 25 members but generally 10-12 attend each meeting. Everyone is encouraged to come whether they have read the book or not....

LONDON (Reuters) - "Apple Tree Yard" is a fast-paced psychological thriller that explores a disturbing idea: what if a woman who has been indulging in risky sex finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong man? Add to this the fact that the woman is a 50-something mother and you begin to understand the torsion that author Louise Doughty applies, forcing us to question our value judgments and moral perspective while gripped by the unfolding drama. ...

Our club has 16 members, all of whom live in Sun City Huntley and are also members of P.E.O. International (a philanthropic organization that promotes educational opportunities for women). We are in our seventh year and meet once a month in each others' homes from 10 a.m. to noon. Coffee, pastry and conversation take up the first half hour, then the hostess starts our discussion with a biography of the author. We urge everyone to come even if they haven't finished that month's selection.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chip gear maker KLA-Tencor Corp said on Tuesday its bookings in the fiscal fourth quarter were close to $895 million or $900 million, higher than expected and helped by demand from contract chip manufacturers. KLA-Tencor said at an event with investors that in the quarter, which ended in June, contract manufacturers, known as foundries, accounted for two-thirds of its business. While bookings topped expectations, Chief Executive Rick Wallace...

Football is not a business of words. No verbs, nouns or adjectives need apply, and here's a tip for the wise adverb: Pick up your gear right now and clear out — quickly. Nobody wants you. Football is a business of actions: running, passing, catching, soaring, kicking, hitting and, inevitably, falling. The important sounds aren't words at all but primitive grunts, rhythmic pants, cries of pain or whoops of exhilaration. (I realize that other activities may elicit those sounds as well, but...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc ratcheted up the pressure on Hachette Book Group by proposing the publisher's authors get all the revenue from ebooks sold by the ecommerce company, as both sides try to resolve their bitter months-long contract dispute. Hachette rejected the offer on Tuesday. The fourth-largest U.S. book publisher, owned by France's Lagardere, instead asked Amazon to immediately withdraw "sanctions" on its books. Amazon's reply to...

Things to know about our book club The Inquiring Minds Book Group was started 16 years ago by a teacher going on maternity leave who wanted to keep connected to friends and create opportunities for intellectual stimulation. We pride ourselves on in-depth conversations as well as the diversity of ages and backgrounds in our group. We are also very open when it comes to our reading choices. Author we'd like to meet Rebecca Skloot, author of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charles Bradley Hintz, who has analyzed financial stocks for more than a decade at Bernstein Research, said on Monday that he will be leaving Wall Street to teach business at New York University and write a book. Hintz, who goes by Brad, will be joining NYU's Stern School of Business as an adjunct professor this fall. He will also be writing what he called a "long-delayed" book titled "Changing Landscapes of the Capital Markets," which he plans to...